Finding Out The Truth
by ldyjaydin
Summary: How will Daryl react when he gets back to the prison and learns what she's done? This was written right after the events in 03x03 but BEFORE the events of 03x04. Very smutty one-shot!


**Finding Out the Truth**

Hi all! This very smutty one-shot has been plaguing my brain since the last episode and I have decided to indulge it. Finished it just before the latest episode (which still has me reeling by the way). No beta testing went into this because I just wanted to get it out there so please forgive any mistakes.

So I know I should be working on the other story I said I wasn't going to post until it was completely done. I am up to chapter 11 and it is going well. Just a reminder that it might be helpful to read (or re-read) "The Green-Eyed Monster", although the new story can basically stand alone. Now enough rambling and on with the smut!

**XXXXXXXX**

He hoped they weren't too late. He prayed to a god he hardly believed in that they weren't too late.

Daryl felt this awful sense of urgency as they pulled into the prison yard. The herd had messed them up horribly on timing. What should have been a day trip to collect medicines at the veterinary college had turned into several days of fighting for their lives. They'd almost lost Tyreese twice and himself once. Luckily, Michonne had sliced into the walker he hadn't noticed coming up behind him when he'd been stuffing supplies into bags.

The SUV they'd hotwired was stacked with medicine along with other supplies and even some preserved food they'd found. Daryl hefted up the large duffel bag just as Maggie came running out of the building. Michonne, Tyreese and Bob were already carrying stuff inside.

"Thank god your back! We didn't think you'd made it after being gone so long. Welcome home!" she greeted them as she helped lift another bag out of the trunk.

"How many we lose?" Daryl asked immediately. All he could think about was the lives lost because of their delay.

"Only three," Maggie replied, a small smile trying to break through on her lips. The loss of three lives was tragic. However, there had been almost a dozen in quarantine when they'd left. Daryl gave her a confused look, having expected the number to be higher. Maggie took in his expression and explained, "When we weren't sure you were gonna make it back, Rick and Carol went on a raiding mission of medicine cabinets in all the surrounding houses. There wasn't enough but enough to help the sickest."

"Rick and Carol?" Daryl's eyebrows knit together at that thought. Carol almost never went on runs. He wasn't sure he liked the idea of her going outside the safety of the prison walls. Then again, she was probably the best available choice. Without his crew and a lot of the other fighters taken ill, she at least knew how to handle herself again walkers. He'd made sure of that.

Maggie gave his arm a little reassuring squeeze. It was the kind of contact he would have flinched away from when all this started but now he accepted that it was meant as a friendly gesture. "Don't worry; she handled herself well out there. I think even Rick was impressed."

Nodding at her, they carried the rest of the supplies into cell block housing the sick. He could still hear coughing but the mood around him seemed less distressed. He spotted Carol on the other side of the room, spooning some broth into Lizzie's mouth. The little girl didn't look too bad, just slightly pale and giving an occasional cough. She'd most likely been one to receive the impromptu medication, which made sense as she was a child.

She gave him a tight-lipped smile, her eyes raking over him for injury. He knew she'd been worried about him. She always worried about him when he went out on runs, which he knew even when she tried to hide it from him. Yet, there was something a little sad about that smile, something that wasn't usually there. He couldn't place it. Instead, he just gave her a tilt of his head along with his signature half-smile back.

Rick came over, clamp him on the shoulder. "Everyone was getting a little worried about you but I figured you'd be able to handle anything given enough time."

Daryl chuckled a little. "Ran inta a mega-herd."

"Mega-herd?" Rick frowned at the possible meaning of such a phrase.

"Yep. Had ta be like 7500 head easy. We lost the car escaping outta it. Almost lost Ty too."

"Shit. Let's hope they don't head this way. Our fences will never hold," Rick breathed out. Then he turned and looked Daryl straight in the eye. "Listen, I need to talk to you." He glanced around at all the people working on getting the supplies where they needed to go. Then he looked back at Daryl. "In private."

Daryl had an idea what this was about and followed Rick out into a secluded corner of the yard. "You figure out who the murderer is?" Daryl jumped right in.

Rick nodded solemnly.

Bouncing on his toes, he said, "Good. Gonna go put a bolt up his ass. Who is the fucker?"

Rick didn't answer and Daryl started to get a little nervous. Carl popped into his head. The teenager had been doing a lot better lately with less attitude and more showing that he cared for the lives of others. He credited Rick's commitment to his son with that change. Yet, what if the boy that had blasted the Woodbury kid handing over his gun reared his ugly head again?

Finally Rick breathed out a long breath and told him. "It was Carol."

Daryl felt like he'd been knocked over. "Carol?" he practically choked out her name. "Ya kiddin'?"

"Wish I was."

"How can ya be sure?" Daryl interrogated him. He felt a tinge of anger at such an accusation and it was obvious that Rick could see it.

"I confronted her about it and she admitted it to me," Rick said sadly.

"Damn it!" Daryl growled out. It wasn't supposed to be someone close to him, someone he valued. It was supposed to be one of those new people or someone from Woodbury that never truly integrated. He got up close to Rick, his voice intense. "I gotta talk ta her. Don't tell anyone else, especially Ty. He might kill her."

Rick nodded in agreement and Daryl took off towards the cell block where he just saw her. Lizzie was now alone, reading a book. He took a tiny moment of happiness observing Glenn walking around, obviously on the mend. Glancing over to where the medicines were being sorted, he felt a touch of dismay that she wasn't there either.

Going up to one of the other women, whose name he thought was Lisa, he asked, "Ya seen Carol?"

She seemed speechless for a moment, like he was movie star who was talking to her. He had to admit that it was a lot better than people looked at him like a dirty, worthless redneck but he was still kind of uncomfortable with his new high status. It was usually just easier to talk with his core group, his family.

"Umm, I think she took some of the medical equipment you all brought back over to the infirmary," she finally answered him, giving him a big smile.

Without another word, he hauled ass over to the cell block that served as the infirmary as well as storage. He had no idea what kind of equipment he was grabbing but figured that they could sort out the useful stuff later. She was probably stowing things that weren't helpful for the viral outbreak but might come in handy in other situations.

"Hey," he said firmly to get her attention. She was organizing things in tubs when he found her. She took a fleeting look at him as he closed the door but then turned back to her work. He couldn't believe she was ignoring him!

That pissed him off. He took two strides over to her and gripped her arm, yanking her to her feet. She gasped and tried to pull away from him. Part of him knew he never should have touched her roughly like that. She'd already had a man in her life who'd hurt her that way. But damn it, he was mad. She'd put her life into jeopardy and he wanted to know why.

"What were you thinkin'?" he questioned her, his voice low and dangerous.

Carol looked up at him, her mouth set in a grim line and her eyes defiant. "I thought I could stop it."

"By killin' two innocent people?"

Her eyes widened a little at his words and her voice became defensive as she tried to justify her actions to him. "They were dying! There was no way they were going to make it. Both of them were coughing up blood, had it coming out of their eyes and their ears. Karen was practically begging for me to put her down; said she hurt so bad. No one else was showing signs then so I thought I could burn the bodies. Nobody would be exposed except me!"

"Well, you were a little late, weren't ya?" Daryl spat at her. "Do ya know what Tyreese is gonna do when he finds out? He'll kill ya! Or demand ta have ya banished!"

She looked down at the ground. "I don't care. What I did was pointless. Didn't stop anything and I'm will to pay for that." Her tone was already one of defeat.

The anger flared up in him at her giving up so easily. "I care!" he screamed in her face.

She shoved against him, breaking the hold he had on her arm. Her back was against the wall and he took a step toward her, not sure what he planned to do. He was seething, the image of her dying at Ty's hands and her not caring was plaguing his brain. He saw the hit coming and grabbed her wrist before she could slap him across the face. Her other hand came up, trying to claw his fingers off her wrist.

"Stop!" he yelled at her but she just made a frustrated noise at him. He held both her wrists as he pressed her against the wall. They were both panting.

Then she did something completely unexpected. She kissed him. It wasn't sweet or soft as he would have imagined one of her kisses to be. He couldn't deny that he'd thought about it before. Usually after an unwelcomed erotic dream about her that left him hard and wanting more in the morning.

No, this kiss was aggressive, her lips latching onto his for just a second. It was enough to catch him off-guard. He jumped away, releasing her. His fingers absentmindedly touched his mouth as he stared at her. She stared back at him, the look on her face one of expectation. She expected him to run from her.

His mind flashed back to the most recent dream he'd had of her, right before he'd left for the run to the vet school. She'd been naked and writhing under him as he'd thrust into her. He could hear her calling out his name in a voice broken with lust as he came. With that thought in his brain, he did something even more unexpected than her. He kissed her back.

Again, it was aggressive. His lips crushed against hers, his teeth scraping along her bottom lip. She froze in place, taken by surprise at his actions. He didn't stop though. His tongue shoved into her mouth, tasting her for the first time. She tasted so good to him. He pressed her against the wall with his body.

A crumb of thought entered his head, penetrating the fog of anger and lust. He should stop this. He was pushing himself against her, his mouth on her uninvited. This wasn't him; he would never force himself on another. She didn't deserve it, not like this.

Before he could break the kiss, her one arm came up around his neck, her fingers in his hair. Her other arm wrapped around his waist, pulling him closer into her body. His breath caught in his throat as her tongue slid against his. He could feel himself getting hard and he growled against her lips.

Without breaking contact, she grasped the front of his shirt and ripped it open. He could hear little buttons pop off and go bouncing off the floor. That was when he broke the kiss, looking at her. She was breathing hard, her cheeks pink and rosy. Her eyes were on his and it almost seemed like she was daring him to continue. Either continue or run.

He should have been so angry with her. She put herself in a very precarious position in the group and they should have been figuring out a way to fix it. Yet, he was so overcome with lust, his head was spinning. At any other time, with any other person, he would have bolted from the room before letting himself be exposed like that. But not her. She knew him, inside and out. And he wanted her. He'd wanted her for a long time now, since before the prison when they'd gotten so close on the road. It was obvious she wanted him too.

"Fuck, Carol," he murmured before attacking her lips again. He shrugged out of the ruined shirt. Her leg rubbed up along his leg, wrapping around his thigh. He slid his hand down her lifted thigh and pressed his hardness into her core. Even with layers of cloth between them, she moaned deep in throat. The sound drove him wild.

He broke away again, this time to tear her tank top off over her head. His mouth was on her neck, sucking and biting her sensitive skin. She sucked in her breath hard as his teeth marked her. He tried fumbling with the clasp of her bra behind her back but he didn't have the patience to deal with it. Finally, he just shredded the fabric. His hands instantly cupped her breasts, his thumbs rubbing against the tight peaks.

Down below, her hips were grinding against him and he couldn't stand the friction any longer. He was close to exploding but he wasn't ready. He wanted her, all of her.

It was rough when he threw her down on the makeshift cot. Yet, she was already working on undoing the button and zipper of her jeans. He grabbed the waistband and deftly pulled everything down off her legs in one swift motion.

There she was, naked and exposed right in front of him. She was so beautiful. But some of the anger held on to him. He felt the need to take control.

"Turn over," he commanded, his voice both harsh and hoarse. She gave him a strange look, biting her lower lip. It seemed like for the first time this started, she was unsure of herself. Then she took a deep breath and complied, flipping herself over onto all fours.

He unbuckled his belt, shoving his pants and underwear down. He was hard as a rock, getting harder as he watched her beautiful ass swaying in front of him. Tentatively, he reached out and ran a hard along her back. This elicited a delicious little shiver from her. He grew bold and gripped her hips, pulling her back towards him. One of his knees went between her legs, parting them for him.

A little whimper escaped her lips as he positioned himself right behind her. He had to hold his breath as he eased into her, her moaning almost throwing him over the edge. He didn't even give her a second to adjust around him. Maybe he meant it as a punishment, suddenly driving himself deep inside her without warning. However, when she cried out, it sounded more like a combination of surprise and pleasure.

He pulled back out and thrust in again, over and over again. She was so close, he could feel it. He wanted to feel her come all around him before he finished. Reaching around her without breaking stride, he explored her folds with his fingertips. Not that he was overly experienced with sex but he'd been forced to watch more than enough porn by Merle to know how to find her sweet spot.

She almost screamed when he rubbed his calloused finger pad around her nub of nerves. Her teeth bit down hard on her lip to stifle the cry and he worried for just a moment that she split her lip open. Then he felt her inner muscles clench around him and all thoughts left his brain.

This had never felt so good, like every nerve in his body was on fire. She was pulsating as he hung on for just a second longer, riding the waves of pleasure before finally letting himself go. With a groan, he spilled his seed inside of her.

They stayed linked together, motionless for a couple moments as they both tried processing what had just happened. He pulled away from her, pulling his clothes back on. She just sat back, her body resting on her leg folded underneath her. Her back was to him and he had a thought that she might have been crying. That wasn't what he wanted.

He slipped on the remnants of his shirt and stepped back up to her. Leaning down, he gently kissed her bare shoulder. "Gonna be okay. We're gonna figure this all out," he whispered in her ear with confidence.

She shifted around, looking at him over her shoulder. Her face was wet; she had been crying. But she gave him a smile, her expression appreciative. "Thank you, Daryl. Thank you so much for believing in me. No matter what happens, I'll always know you cared."


End file.
